55P/Tempel-Tuttle image of the day

This image was taken using a 6 inch Schmidt-Newtonian and a HiSIS CCD camera.
It is a composite of 13 x 1-minute exposures - hence the multiple star images
caused by the extremely rapid movement of the comet. The comet was 1.17 AU from the
Sun and 0.36 AU from Earth. Dave Ratledge reported:
"The camera actually broke down
later in the evening ruining all subsequent images. Who says comet's don't bring bad luck!
Visually Temple-Tuttle is very disappointing. It is faint and produces little dust so
doesn't have a prominent tail and unless it passes very close to Earth it will be
inconspicuous. In fact in its 1899 and 1932 perihelion it wasn't even seen at all.
In the 1998 approach it was unfortunately closest before perihelion when it was
approximately 33 million miles away and just seeing it was an achievement,
which myself and Gerald Bramall did with my 16 inch."